Cinder's Glass Slipper
by Bartiand
Summary: After a devastating loss, Alex M. Lila came across Cinder, Emerald, and Mercury. Cinder realizes how useful Alex will be in her egotistical pursuit of power. She offers him a chance to change fate. With little options, he takes it and embarks on an eventful journey that will change, help, and ruin many lives as well as dictate the fate of humanity. (AU fic)


Chapter One: A Choice

(Alex's POV)

As the woman's sword was about to strike me, I rolled away and activated my semblance.

"What? He disappeared!" a bandit exclaimed.

"Impossible!" a second bandit said.

"His semblance is invisibility. Be cautious," the woman told the bandits.

I have no intention of attacking them again. I have to get away from here. I try to stand up but to no avail. I slowly crawl towards the forest. I spend thirty minutes or more crawling, trying to ignore all the death around me. Once I make it deep in the forest, I set myself against a tree, deactivate my semblance and inspect my legs. I find my calves have been sliced open. I didn't even feel her do it. She's got to be their leader, based on her skill. I pull my first aid kit out and perform treatment on them. Once I finish, I admire my work. I inspect the rest of my body for other wounds. I find my cheeks have been cut open as well as a giant slash across my chest. I only knew she broke through the armor, not knowing that she got my chest too.

I patch those wounds up as well. The fatigue has gotten to me and my eye slowly close. My mind repeats the scene: my mother and father being slaughtered by the black-haired woman. I wake up to see that it's morning and raining. I try to stand up and do so, but nearly fall down in the process. I limp my way back to the village to see if I can give my parents a proper burial. When I make it to the village, I find that it is full of Grimm. I'm in no condition to fight and I don't think I could fight of this many by myself. With disappointment and sadness, I walk away. I need to find another town or village and tell them what has happened here.

 _ **Two days later**_

I haven't even bothered to go find another town. I refuse to let my parents rot out in the open. Most of the Grimm have cleared out and a few lone Beowolves remain. I lurk on top of the tailor shop. I jump off, turning invisible. I slowly make my way up to a Beowolf. I swing my sword, chopping off its head in a single blow. I see the second Beowolf and sneak up on it. The Beowolf keeps turning away from me, making nearly impossible to find a clean strike. I pick up a rock and toss it, gaining the Beowolf's attention. As soon as it turns towards me, a swift strike sends its head off into the distance. I make my way over to my parent's corpses. They seem to be untouched by the Grimm. Most of the blood from their night of death has been washed away by the rain. I carry their bodies back to our house's backyard. The house's outside has a marble rustic look to it, simplistic but beautiful. I check the garden shed for a shovel and successfully find one. I start digging for the next hour. Once I'm done digging, I gently place them in the graves and fill them back in with dirt. I take two crosses from our garden and place them as tombstones, marking the location of the graves in case if I come back.

"Mother… Father… I will avenge you, mark my words. They will pay for the hell that they have brought upon us."

Tears leak from my eyes. I walk away and enter the house. The place has been ransacked heavily. I walk up the stairs and into my room. It has been searched through like the rest of place. I move my bed out of the way and find my secret safe. It's been scuffed from damage but it's not broken. I enter the combo and grab my grappling gun, lock picking kit, snake camera, a dagger, and three of my favorite books and place them in my satchel. I also find my scroll and press its power button. Dead just like the rest of the town. I slide it into the satchel as well. I'll charge it at the next town if I find one. I leave the house and town. The search begins.

 _ **Twenty-four hours later**_

I've been unable to locate another town which sucks. I want human contact. I'm currently stalking an Ursa that has been giving me trouble for the past few hours. The Ursa has lead me to a path I've never seen before. I crouch in my tree. The Ursa decided to lie down in the middle of the path. I glance over to see a group of three people walking by. Two girls and one guy. One of them has black hair but it's not her. They looked young but I would guarantee that they have experience. I refuse to let them steal my kill.

"What is an Ursa doing lying in the road?" The green-haired girl asked.

"It is rather strange to see one here. It's not in their usual behavior." The black-haired girl replied.

Ignoring their conversation, I put my helmet on, turn invisible and jump attack the Ursa with my weapon. I miss its neck and hit its back instead. It roars out in pain as it tries to shake me off. It does so and sends me flying into a tree, making me visible again. I recover my balance and charge up a Dust attack. I send a line of fire Dust with my sword. The beast is stunned, giving me an opening. I charge in, stick my sword in its neck, and rotate the blade to cut off its head. I watch as the Ursa's head roll towards the party of three. We lock eyes. Out of panic, I turn invisible, sheathe my weapon and don't move.

"Emerald, is this one of your tricks?" the guy asked.

"No! I'm hurt you'd think that Merc," Emerald, the green-haired girl replied.

"Whatever it was, the person is gone now," Merc stated.

"Actually, I think he's still here," The black-haired girl said.

"What do you mean, Cinder?" Emerald asked.

"We didn't see him until the Ursa threw him off its back. I believe he can turn invisible. Watch."

Cinder start walking towards me. I still haven't moved as she reaches me. She extends of her hand and touches my chest. I look at her face and her expression seems to want me to reveal myself. I do so, stepping back, away from her hand.

`"Well, hello, boy. What's someone like you doing out here? Lila's don't usually wander too far from their markets."

"You're telling me that this guy is a Lila? Don't make me laugh," Merc said.

"From the getup, he likely is one," snapped Emerald.

"What's your name, boy?" Cinder asked.

"Alex Mercator Lila, at your service," I replied as I bowed.

"Told ya," said Emerald.

"And the reason I'm wandering alone out here is that my home was attacked by bandits. As far as I know, I'm the only survivor," I said, looking at Cinder.

"That is a shame. Listen, I have a proposal. You come with us to the next town and you can either go your own way, back to the boring life of trading and what not or join me and my partners on our mission and change fate," Cinder said.

"I'll consider it when we get to town," I said as I check my supply of Dust crystals.

Damn, I'm running low. The trio starts walking toward what I assume is the direction of the town and I follow behind. As for what Cinder said… being a merchant isn't _that_ boring. Sure, it can be dull but you meet all kind of interesting characters. Changing fate, though. I believed my mother used to do that. I'm deep in thought when I see snapping fingers in front of me.

"Are you even listening?" Emerald said.

"AAH! Sorry! I was thinking about Cinder's offer and when the hell did you start walking beside me?"

Emerald chuckles at my perturbation.

"For about a few minutes. I asked about what happened to you."

"Oh..."

My mind flashes back to that unfortunate night. Death. The sword going through my mother's heart.

"You don't have to talk about it."

"No, I must. It happened three nights ago roughly. I was moving supplies for the local dust store when the bandits attacked. The town was hit from all sides. I needed to find my parent. While trying to find them, I defeat a few of the bandits and when I did find them, it was too late. A black-haired woman shoved her sword through my mother's heart. In a fit of rage, I attacked the women. I failed and I narrowly escaped by using my semblance. Yesterday, after most of the Grimm cleared out, I buried them. Once we get to town, I need to contact my sister and tell her the news."

"Gosh… I'm sorry. I know lost but nothing like that."

"Well, Death is nothing new to me. It's how I got my semblance."

"And how exactly?"

"I killed three children."

"I'm sorry but you didn't just say that."

"I did. It happened when I was nine. Those poor souls shouldn't have taken me hostage and tried to kill me. The Rosé's will always be inferior to the Lila's."

My ankle suddenly gave out and I came crashing to the ground. The contents of my satchel spill across the ground and I hurriedly put them back in. Emerald picked up one of my books and examined it.

"Dishonored Legacy. I remember this book. I take it you like reading?" Emerald asked with a hint of excitement in her voice.

"I do. I mostly like to read historical fiction and information about the past. I'm a big history nerd. My outfit is inspired by a former desert division of Vacuo in the War."

"It looks more like a dress. And explain the Atlesian military boots."

"The boots were something I bought a few months ago and it's called a tunic."

"Sure. it's a tunic," Emerald sarcastically said.

"It is!"

We both start laughing at this whole situation. It feels nice, talking to new people. I glance and see a town in the distance. It's similar but distinctly different compared to my town. The buildings are blue while ours were grey and they are compact. A fire hazard if you ask me. I feel Emerald tap my shoulder.

"Yes?" I asked

"Who are the Rosés?"

"The Rosés, formally House Rosé, is a merchant family just like House Lila. So we deal with all kinds of business. House Rosé is our rival. They tried to sabotage us many times including by trying to kill me. They hate us mostly because we're cozy with the Schnee family although I wish we weren't sometimes."

"Why's that?"

"I have a forced arranged marriage with the younger Schnee girl. It's supposed to bring our families together. She doesn't like it and I don't like it. But you can't say she doesn't have a slight influence over me. My sword can channel Dust like hers.

"So, you don't want to marry her?"

"If I had a choice, maybe but I didn't. I want to choose the girl I want to be with."

I sigh deeply. That marriage… I hope something ruins it. We finally make it to the town.

"Alex, We'll be at the inn. Please consider my offer," Cinder warmly said.

"Alright. I will. Just give me like ten minutes and all should be good."

I break off from the trio and head to the local police station. I walk inside and greet the secretary.

"Ah. Mr. Lila. What a pleasure to make your acquaintance," said the secretary enthusiastically

"Please. Mr. Lila was my father. You can call me Alex," I replied.

"Okay, Alex, what seems to bring you out here?"

"Well, about three days ago, my town was attacked by bandits and then overrun by Grimm. Both of my parents and most of the people were killed. The Grimm cleared out a day ago but they might have come back. I only know this because I refused to let my parents rot out in the open air."

"My lord… We'll try to send a squad out as soon as possible. As for you, you'll need to fill out a detailed report."

For the next fifteen minutes, I gave the secretary all the details I could of the unfaithful night and discovered the name of the woman who killed my parents. Raven Branwen. I thanked the secretary for his help and starting looking for the inn. Once I found it, I went to it but didn't enter. I stood outside next to the door. Cinder's offer. Changing fate. Would it be worth it? I really have no place to go. Actually, this could assist me in my revenge on Raven. I open the door and scan the room. I locate the trio and take the only open seat.

"I'm in," I said sternly.

"Excellent. We can discuss our plan of action," Cinder said.


End file.
